Bresson would rather people feel his films than understand their stories. He uses minimalism and rawness in dialogue and acting to represent the emotions and atmosphere of the subjects of his films.
He made films differently than his contemporaries, but he did enjoy some contemporary films (though he did not mention which ones). Also, certain techniques that his contemporaries uses annoy him (though he did not mention which ones).
He feels that people can relate more to an escape film, like his A Man Escaped (1956), than to a film focused on a small segment of the population. This is because the audience naturally feels familiarity in escape; everyone wants to escape at some point - it seems heroic and maybe even more dramatic than a film about an unfamiliar subject. But Bresson feels that while a film about thieves, like Pickpocket (1959),is less representative of and familiar to the audience, it is more representative of the common man as a whole.
Bresson feels alone, but does not derive any pleasure from it.
Bresson has a scene in Pickpocket (1959) where a wallet is transferred down a line of people, from person to person, thief to thief. This starts with a shot where the camera follows the progression of the wallet from each person's hand to the next. There is almost no dialogue in this scene, save for a lone train announcement. Also, there is no person that acts as the focus of the scene; actually, the wallet is the main focus for most of the scene. However, there does seem to be a protagonist, and this scene lends some focus to him. There is also no music, only sound effects and the sounds of movement.
Ingmar Bergman:
His films are about life and death - The Seventh Seal (1957) is a prime example of this, with a knight challenging Death to a game of chess to prolong his life.
Bergman's films stood out from those of his contemporaries because his had both a deep philosophical and moral message and insights into the puzzle of life and death, coupled with the fact that his films are quite masterfully crafted and very entertaining.
Woody Allen's films are thematically related to Ingmar Bergman and the study of life and death because Woody Allen drew great influence from the films of Bergman that he saw in his youth. He was very interested in and respected Bergman and his contribution to the film world.
The Seventh Seal (1957) is the representation of man's questions: Is there a God? What is death? And why do people die? He answers these questions with enormous theatricality and suspense through quick action and dialogue expressing his message.
Ingmar Bergman creates a great contrast between life - the sexuality of the medieval actor and the seductress - and death - the folk song (which still seems lively though it has grim lyrics) and then the procession of the monks on the death march. People of the Middle Ages, especially during the outbreak of the Black Plague, punished themselves by flagellation in order to repent for their sins. Meanwhile, the actor and the seductress are still together in the bushes, creating a comedic expression of life that contrasts with the grim scene before it.
Federico Fellini:
Fellini essentially wrote about his writer's block - he just made a film about having trouble making a film - and he made it so surreal that the audience could not possibly identify his inspiration.
8½ (1963) captures what it was (is) like to be a film director. It is busy and you have so many duties. Everyone expects things of you. In the end, the stand in for Fellini, Guido Anselmi, played by Marcello Mastroianni, develops a little dance to get through his busy day.
Fellini was working on a film, but he did not know how to finish it, so he made 8½ (1963), a film about trying to finish making a film. He combined this idea with his life - his family, friends, wife, girlfriends, etc. to create 8½ (1963).
Fellini always showed how amazing life is in his films. He displaced a child-like wonderment of the world around him through his films.
Time is so fluid in his movie 8½ (1963), but it still seems so real.Fellini fragmented time, not only fo artistic purposes, but also pragmatically, because he did not know how to make his film conventional by any means.
Robert Bresson:
Ingmar Bergman:
Federico Fellini: